Graduation party gunman given 40-year term

The gunman who killed one and injured at least nine others at a high school graduation party in 2010 was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison for murder and assault.

By Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

The gunman who killed one and injured at least nine others at a high school graduation party in 2010 was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison for murder and assault.Akeem Antwon Prewitt, 23, pleaded guilty to the murder of LaMarcus Branch and the assault of nine other guests at the party held on May 15, 2010.Attempted murder charges, a drug possession charge and a charge of carrying a pistol without a permit were dropped as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court documents.He also pleaded guilty to the assault of a detention officer at the Tuscaloosa County Jail in 2011. “It's been three years and three months since a very terrible tragedy occurred,” said his attorney, Gar Blume, of Blume and Blume Attorneys at Law. “LaMarcus Branch was Akeem Prewitt's best friend. That's something he's had to live with this whole time.”Prewitt opened fire with a 9 mm handgun in a crowded room at the clubhouse at The Links of Tuscaloosa apartments just more than three years ago. Witnesses estimated that about 100 people were in the clubhouse early that Sunday morning.“A brief moment of very poor judgment has placed him in a very precarious position,” Blume said. “He's felt such remorse for so long. He's accepted responsibility and wants to move forward. Hopefully, LaMarcus' family and all of the other families that were impacted can also move forward.”The party had been advertised on Facebook by a Hillcrest High School senior. Uninvited guests were allowed inside when they showed up. Prewitt was one of five people, including the young man who was killed, who attended the party together. One of the people in his group had been invited. A fight broke out when Prewitt danced with a girl, investigators said at the time. The young crowd shouted allegiances to gangs and made gang signs with their hands during the fight that followed, they said.Someone switched off the lights during the confrontation. Prewitt fired a gun in the dark, striking the eight young men and two young women. His friend LaMarcus Branch, a 17-year-old Bryant High School student who went by the nickname “Blimp,” was killed. Two of Prewitt's friends were also injured.The most seriously injured victim was a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the face. The 28-year-old brother of the graduate who hosted the party was shot in the chest. A trial in the case had been scheduled for Aug. 5. Forty-six witnesses, including party guests and law enforcement officers, had been subpoenaed and were expected to testify.Prewitt entered the plea to murder, two counts of first-degree assault, six counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree assault before Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Brad Almond on Friday. He was sentenced to 40 years for the murder charge, 10 years for each first-degree assault charge and one year for each of the remaining charges. The sentences will be served concurrently, and he will be eligible for parole in 15 years.In July 2011, Prewitt was one of three jail inmates accused of trying to kill a detention officer who was serving them breakfast. One of the inmates and the targeted officer had been involved in a fight that had hospitalized two inmates and one guard the previous week. According to court documents, Prewitt punched the guard, allowing his cell mate to exit the cell, grab the keys and free another inmate who attacked the guard with a sock filled with bars of soap. The men had planned to beat the guard unconscious, according to investigators, and kill him by throwing him over a rail the floor below.In that case, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree escape. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, and will serve a 10-year sentence concurrent with the other sentences.Prewitt will receive credit for the two years, two months and nine days he spent in the Tuscaloosa County Jail before entering the plea. He had not yet been transferred to a state prison as of Tuesday.